Unicorn Uproar (4 page)

That horse is as white as Sparkle,
Nancy told herself. She bit her lower lip as another thought flashed into her head.
Unless … that horse is Sparkle!

Nancy turned to her friends. “Mayor Strong needed a horse to be in the joust, right?” she asked.

“Right,” Bess said with a nod.

“So,” Nancy said with a grin. “What if Mayor Strong's horse is really a
unicorn
?”

“How could that horse be a unicorn?” Bess asked. “Unicorns have horns on their heads.”

“Look at the huge headdress the horse is wearing,” Nancy pointed out. “His horn could be hidden underneath.”

“If it is Sparkle,” George said, tilting her head to study the horse, “how did the mayor get him?”

“Seth said he was helping Mayor Strong at the time Sparkle went missing,” Nancy said. “Maybe he was helping the mayor get Sparkle!”

“But why would Mayor Strong want a unicorn instead of a horse?” Bess asked.

“Why not?” George said. “If unicorns jump superhigh, maybe they can run superfast, too!”

Seth led Mayor Strong and the mystery horse onto the jousting field.

“If we could only look under that headdress to see if there's a horn,” Nancy said softly.

Three men wearing blue velvet tunics and tights walked to the middle of the field. They blew loudly into long skinny trumpets.

“Hear ye, hear ye, good people!” one man announced. “Challenging Sir Mayor the Strong in the royal joust shall be Sir Bragalot the Bold!”

Another knight in armor rode onto the field.

He was riding a black horse that was also wearing a headdress and blanket.

“Sir Bragalot rides the brave and noble mare Midnight,” the man went on. “Sir Mayor the Strong will ride the gallant steed Speckle!”

“Speckle?” Nancy repeated.

“Speckle … Sparkle?” Bess said. She narrowed her eyes. “A coincidence? I think not.”

“Brave knights, take thy places,” the man shouted. “And may the joust begin!”

Both knights lowered their visors. They trotted
their horses to the opposite ends of the arena.

The knights then took pointed lances and shields from the horses' handlers. Mayor Strong had trouble holding both, and he dropped his shield on Seth's foot.

“This is going to be dangerous,” Bess complained. She clapped her hand over her eyes. “I can't watch.”

Nancy kept one eye open, one eye closed. After three trumpet blasts the knights began to charge. George jumped to her feet and began to cheer, “Sir Mayor the Strong is red hot! Sir Bragalot is all shot!”

Nancy gasped as the knights' lances clashed. Sir Bragalot knocked the mayor's lance from his hand—and the mayor from his horse!

The whole crowd jumped to its feet as Mayor Strong lay motionless on the ground. Just when Nancy thought the mayor was hurt, he jumped up, raised his visor, and grinned.

“I think I'll stick to being the mayor of River Heights!” Mayor Strong boomed.

The cheering was so loud that the bleachers shook. Sir Mayor the Strong and Sir Bragalot took off their gloves and shook hands. Then Seth led the horses away from the field.

“I want to follow Speckle,” Nancy said, standing up, “and see if he's really Sparkle.”

The girls left the jousting field. They found the horses inside a pen behind the grandstand. Both were nibbling hay off the ground.

“They're still wearing their blankets and headdresses,” Bess said, peering through the chain-link fence. “Now we can't see if Speckle has a horn or not.”

“Who says we can't?” George asked. She reached over the gate, lifted the latch, and swung it open.

“George, we're not allowed in there,” Nancy called.

“This is a medieval festival!” Bess cried. “If they have a jousting field, they probably have a dungeon, too.”

But George was already inside the horse pen.

“Do you want to see if Speckle is Sparkle or not?” she demanded.

To Nancy the answer was yes. She darted into the pen, followed by a groaning Bess. George ran straight to Speckle and tugged gently on his headdress.

“This thing is strapped on tight,” George said. “He'll never hold still enough for us to look underneath.”

“When Chip won't hold still for her bath, I pet her gently,” Nancy said. “If it works with dogs, maybe it works with horses—or unicorns.”

Nancy walked to Speckle's side, careful not to get swatted by his tail. She lifted the horsy-smelling blanket. She was about to pet Speckle when her hand froze.

“Bess, George,” Nancy called. “I think I know why they call him Speckle.”

“Why?” Bess asked as she and George ran over.

Nancy pointed to a flurry of black speckles on Speckle's coat. “Because of these,” she said.

“Sparkle had no speckles,” Bess sighed.

“So Speckle isn't Sparkle,” George decided.

“Which means,” Nancy said, letting the horse blanket drop over Speckle's back, “he's a horse and not a unicorn.”

“You again?” a voice shouted. “Get out of there. It's not safe!”

Nancy gulped as they spun around. Glaring at them from outside the fence was Seth.

“Don't throw us into the dungeon!” Bess pleaded. “We have a spelling bee in a few weeks! And our book reports are due next Friday and—”

“Aren't you those girls who were in Sparkle's pen yesterday?” Seth cut in. “What do you want with Speckle?”

“Nothing anymore,” George said.

But Nancy still had questions. “What were you helping the mayor with yesterday?” she asked Seth. “When you should have been watching Sparkle?”

“I was giving the mayor a riding lesson,” Seth said. “And as you just saw, he needed a lot more than just one.”

Seth held the gate open as Nancy, Bess, and George filed out of the pen.

“What do you think happened to Sparkle the unicorn, Seth?” Bess asked.

“Who knows?” Seth groaned. “But if he doesn't show up soon, Rex is going to flip.”

As the girls walked away from the pen, Nancy glanced at her watch. Destiny's party would start in about an hour. They had to figure out a way to get to it.

“You guys,” George said, “check it out!”

Nancy looked up from her watch. George was pointing to a huge open tent filled with racks of wizard robes, jester caps, and crowns—even a suit of armor. The costumes were great, and they gave Nancy an idea!

“Destiny is having a medieval party, right?” Nancy asked. “So everyone will be wearing medieval costumes, right?”

“Right!” Bess and George said together.

The girls raced into the tent. Two women dressed in long skirts and puffy-sleeved blouses
were hanging up long capes. Their name tags read
LADY SUE
and
LADY INEZ
.

“May we borrow some costumes, please?” Nancy asked.

“Borrow?” Lady Sue chuckled.

“This isn't a library, kids,” Lady Inez said. “Everything in here is for sale.”

The girls traded disappointed looks. They didn't have enough money to buy costumes. But just as they were about to leave, Lady Sue called out, “Hey, wait! Aren't you Louise Fayne's daughter?”

“Who, me?” George asked, turning around.

“You were with your mom at the staff meeting,” Lady Inez said. “You helped cut her delicious pies and cakes.”

“That was me,” George agreed.

“Your mom always gives us free food here,” Lady Sue said with a warm smile. “So we'll let you borrow some costumes—for free.”

Lady Sue and Lady Inez helped the girls pick out perfect costumes. Nancy chose a purple
velvet gown with black trim. After trying on five dresses, Bess decided on a long pink skirt and a white blouse embroidered with pink flowers. George refused to wear a long dress or skirt. Instead, she chose an orange tunic with dark green tights.

“We may have costumes,” George said as they left the tent, “but we don't have invitations to Destiny's party.”

“What if her parents don't let us inside?” Bess asked.

“We don't have to go inside the house,” Nancy explained. “If Destiny has Sparkle, she's probably keeping him in the backyard.”

The girls were carrying their regular clothes when they saw two friends from school, Marcy Ruben and Kendra Jackson. They'd just had their faces painted to look like cats, with colorful whiskers.

“Meow!” Kendra howled, swiping a pretend paw.

Nancy giggled. Their faces were funny. But
even funnier were the necklaces they were wearing: tiny clear plastic bottles hanging from black cords. Packed inside the bottles were wispy white hairs.

“What's that?” Nancy asked, nodding at the bottles.

“They're good luck charms,” Kendra said. “Toby Leo is selling them.”

“Toby?” Nancy asked.

Marcy pointed to Toby walking past a candy apple stall. In his hands was a medium-size cardboard box.

“Get your unicorn hair right here,” Toby was yelling as he walked. “Guaranteed to bring you good luck!”

“Bess, George!” Nancy exclaimed. “Did he just say
unicorn
hair?”

“Hey, Toby!” George shouted. “Where did you get the unicorn hair?”

“Du-uh!” Toby shouted back. “From a unicorn!”

“Can we see it, please?” Nancy asked, stepping
forward. But Toby spun on his heel and took off running.

“Get him!” George shouted. She dropped the bundle of clothes she was holding and chased Toby.

“I'm not dropping my clothes on the dirty ground!” Bess cried.

Neither would Nancy. So with bundles in their arms Nancy and Bess joined George in the chase. They didn't get very far as their long skirts tangled around their ankles.

“Whoa!” Nancy cried as she tripped and fell.

“Ow!” Bess screamed as she tumbled to the ground.

George stopped running. Groaning under her breath, she ran back to help her friends up.

“Our hands were full,” Bess complained. “We couldn't hold up our long skirts.”

“I told you to wear a tunic and tights instead,” George said, and groaned. “Now Toby got away!”

“At least we know he has unicorn hair,” Nancy said. “And there's only one unicorn we know.”

“Sparkle,” Bess declared.

While Nancy and Bess dusted themselves off, Mrs. Fayne walked over.

“Do you like our clothes, Aunt Louise?” Bess asked, twirling around. “Lady Sue and Lady Inez let us borrow them for free.”

“How nice of them,” Mrs. Fayne said. She wiggled her car keys in her hand. “I have to go back to the house to pick up some pies. Want to come with me?”

Nancy smiled to herself. This was their big chance!

“The birthday party,” Nancy whispered to her friends.

“Oh, right,” George whispered back. She smiled at her mother and said, “Mom, can you please drop us off at Destiny Delgado's house on the way? We want to wish her a happy birthday.”

“And look for some clues along the way,” Nancy said superquickly so they wouldn't be lying.

“I once catered a party at the Delgados', so I know where they live,” Mrs. Fayne said. “But do
you have invitations for Destiny's party?”

The girls exchanged worried looks. There it was. The
I
word.

“Um, not exactly, Mrs. Fayne,” Nancy said. “But if you drop us off and pick us up on your way back to the fair, we'll have enough time to say happy birthday and won't stay too long.”

“Okay, then,” Mrs. Fayne said with a nod.

“Yippee!” Bess cheered with a little hop.

The girls followed Mrs. Fayne to the van. Nancy and Bess carefully lifted their skirts to climb into the backseat. George jumped in after them.

“If we don't find Sparkle at Destiny's house, we'll look for Toby later,” Nancy said.